Deliciously Refreshing Summer Gin Cocktails

What’s better than a cool drink on a hot day? For a sophisticated libation, use herbal, floral, citrus-forward gin to ramp up your cocktail’s potential. We’ve put together a list of summer-ready gin cocktails to add some flair to the season!

Before you get your cocktail shaker out, check out our Ultimate Guide to Gin. There, you’ll find everything you need to know about the spirit’s history, the various styles, and other fun facts. It will make your home bartending even more fun!

Here are our eight recommendations for deliciously refreshing gin cocktails that you’re sure to love all summer long.

Gin Rickey

This is a simple and classic cocktail with very few ingredients. With that being said, each component needs to be of the highest quality possible for the best results. Deliciously tart and fizzy, a Gin Rickey is a summertime sipper without added sugars.

Gin Rickey Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces gin
• .5 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• Club soda, to top
• Garnish: lime wheels

Directions:

1. Fill a highball glass with ice and add the gin and lime juice.
2. Top with club soda.
3. Stir gently to incorporate.
4. Garnish with 2 lime wheels.

Strawberry Basil Crush

If you’ve ever been strawberry picking in the summer, you know how easy it is to walk away with pounds of those beautiful gems! Use up some of your strawberry haul with this fruity, lightly herbal cocktail. Topped with club soda, the Strawberry Basil Crush is light and cheerful, perfect for a sunny day.

Strawberry Basil Crush Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces gin
• 1-2 Tbsp. sugar
• .5 ounce fresh lemon juice
•  4-5 sliced strawberries
• 2 basil leaves
• ~ 2 ounces club soda, to top

Directions:

1. Macerate the sliced strawberries with sugar and allow them to sit for ten minutes or more.
2. Combine macerated strawberries and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. In a short glass, gently muddle basil leaves.
4. Fill with ice.
5. Strain strawberry mixture into the glass over the ice and basil.
6. Add gin and stir.
7. Top with club soda and gently stir again to incorporate.
8. Garnish with additional strawberries and basil, if desired.

Boat House Punch

With a little planning ahead of time, Boat House Punch is an amazing party drink. Not only is it pretty in a pitcher, but it’s also a flavorful and spirited drink that raises the bar for other party punches. Starting off with a lemon oleo Saccharum, the marinated lemon peel, and sugar mixture, the cocktail has a rich lemon base. You’ll build on it with zippy Aperol, floral St-Germain, and spritzy rosé. This is a pretty large batch, in our opinion – but you know your guests better than we do!

Boat House Punch Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 lemons, peeled
• ½ cup superfine sugar
• 1-liter dry gin
• 750 mL Aperol
• 12 ounces St-Germain
• 12 ounces grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed
• 12 ounces lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 12 ounces orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 750 mL sparkling rosé
• Garnish: orange wheels

Directions:

1. Muddle the lemon peels (save lemons for juicing) with the sugar in a bowl until the sugar looks slightly moistened.
2. Cover and let sit for at least one hour, or overnight, so the sugar can absorb the lemon oils.
3. Add the gin, Aperol, St-Germain, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, and orange juice to a large pitcher or punch bowl. Add the lemon-sugar mixture, and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the lemon peels, drop them in a large ice block, and add the sparkling rosé.
5. Garnish the pitcher and individual punch cups with orange wheels.

Negroni

Looking to take a break from fruity gin-focused cocktails but still want something refreshing for the summer? Then a Negroni is an answer. Like the Gin Rickey, a Negroni has very few ingredients, which makes it all the more important to use the best ingredients you can get your hands on. Boozy, lightly bitter, and herbal, the Negroni brings elegance to a hot summer evening.

Negroni Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-ounce gin
• 1 ounce Campari
• 1-ounce sweet vermouth
• Garnish: orange peel

Directions:

1. Add the gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth to a mixing glass filled with ice, and stir until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a rock glass filled with large ice cubes.
3. Garnish with an orange peel.

Pineapple Bombshell Recipe

Lightly tropical flavors blend seamlessly with gin in this Pineapple Bombshell cocktail. It features gin from North Carolina’s Bogue Sound Distillery. The key to the bright and delicious flavors here is fresh fruit juices. (While you don’t have to use Bogue Distillery gin, make sure to pick one with a crisp, clean palate for the pineapple and gin to really sing together.)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces Bombshell Gin
• 4 ounces of Pineapple juice
• Juice of 1 lime plus lime wedges for garnish
• Sparkling water

Directions:

1. Add Bombshell Gin, pineapple juice, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker.
2. Fill shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
3. Pour into glass and top with sparkling water.
4. Garnish with lime wedges.

Tom Collins Recipe

Another classic cocktail that’s tailor-made for porch sitting and relishing the summer breeze, the Tom Collins is a breath of fresh air. With fresh-squeezed lemon juice and a pop of sweet from a maraschino cherry garnish, the Tom Collins is like a boozy, bubbly lemonade. It’s a summer gin cocktail that’s sure to please the child inside.

Ingredients:

●     2 ounces London dry gin

• 1-ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• .5 ounce simple syrup
• Club soda, to top
• Garnish: lemon wheel
• Garnish: maraschino cherry

Directions:

1. Add the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a Collins glass.
2. Fill with ice, top with club soda and stir.
3. Garnish with a lemon wheel and maraschino cherry.

French 75

Feeling fancy? The French 75 marries gin and Champagne in a sophisticated union with a splash of lemon for levity. Use a Champagne flute for maximum opulence.

French 75 Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-ounce gin
• .5 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• .5 ounce simple syrup
• 3 ounces Champagne (or other sparkling wine)
• Garnish: lemon twist

Directions:

1. Add the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a Champagne flute.
3. Top with the Champagne.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Ramos Gin Fizz

Fizzes are such a fun way to shake things up (pun intended)! Incorporating an egg white into the drink adds body and a delightful roundness to an otherwise terrifically tart drink. Dry shake the ingredients together first (which means shake it all together with no ice). This helps emulsify the egg white and liquids together. After emulsifying, you can add ice and shake to chill, and when you pour the drink, the beautiful foam will rise to the top of your cocktail.

Ramos Gin Fizz Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces gin
• 1-ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• .75 ounce simple syrup
• 1 egg white (about ½ ounce)
• Club soda, to top (about 1 ounce)

Directions:

1. Add the gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white to a shaker and vigorously dry-shake (without ice) for about 15 seconds.
2. Add 3 or 4 ice cubes and shake vigorously until well-chilled.
3. Double-strain into a chilled Collins glass and top with club soda.

Which of these summer gin cocktails will you make first?